Secular Coalition for Arizona Kick-Off a Rousing Success

Secular Coalition for America Needs Your Leadership to Build More State Affiliates

“What an amazing night.”

The positive online comments keep pouring in! The movement for a saner and more secular America is blazing a historic new trail, a trail that will lead to Secular Coalitions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by the end of the decade. On October 12, we took the first exciting steps on that trail with the establishment of the Secular Coalition for Arizona, the first Secular Coalition for America State Affiliate.

Discussion Forum

There were several people in Lincoln today meeting about trying to organise a state chapter of the SCA in Nebraska.Organising people over in Omaha and Lincoln (the state capital) is not too hard, the…Continue

This organization is a very serious threat to a "Secular Nation." These people are using our tax dollars to go into school buildings after hours and teach this garbage to our children! I'm sure…Continue

I live in Southern, Ohio and the Bible-Belt runs strong through the hills in our community. I frequent many city council meetings because of the corruption that has been within our tiny city for…Continue

Secular Coalition Latest News

Washington, D.C.- The Secular Coalition for America released the following statement in response to the DC City Council's second and final vote on the Death with Dignity Act (B 21-38), which passed by a veto-proof margin of 11-2. This comes exactly one week after Colorado voters approved Proposition 106, the End of Life Options Act. Both measures establish a regulated process by which terminally ill patients can receive a prescription for drugs allowing them to hasten their deaths, if and when they choose.

Statement by Sarah Levin, Senior Legislative Associate of the Secular Coalition for America

"Today's vote in DC follows another victory in Colorado last Tuesday, when two thirds of voters affirmed their support for death with dignity in spite of the Catholic Church spending more than $2.2 million on an opposition campaign which spread fear and misinformation. We remain vigilant and will not stand by as the church attempts to impose its religious dogma on terminally- ill individuals. We are appalled by this cold disregard for suffering and the church's willingness to trample upon an individual's right to make this decision according to their own conscience. Our victories today and last week have demonstrated that when voters and elected officials are presented with the facts and hear the stories of the needless suffering endured by those who wanted a compassionate option, they will do the right thing even in the face of the religious right's bullying. Compassion & Choices and the Death with Dignity National Center are leading the fight on this issue and we are proud to stand alongside them. We will continue working with our partners and allies until terminally-ill patients in every state are empowered with this fundamental human right."

The Secular Coalition for America is the nation's premier advocacy organization representing atheists, humanists, agnostics, and other nontheists. Its mission is to increase the visibility of and respect for nontheistic viewpoints in the United States, and to protect and strengthen the secular character of our government as the best guarantee of freedom for all. The Secular Coalition represents 19 voting member organizations.

On January 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. What happens next is up to us. Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly pledged that, if elected, he would do everything he could do push through the religious right's dangerous agenda. Just a few items on this nightmare policy wish list include:

Repealing the Johnson Amendment. Passed in 1954, this Amendment safeguards the separation of church and state by prohibiting houses of worship from endorsing political candidates. The repeal of the Johnson Amendment will allow pastors and preachers to campaign for politicians from the pulpit, all while benefiting from a tax-exempt status. In September, two bills (H.R. 6086 and H.R. 6195) that would repeal the Johnson Amendment were introduced into the House.

Signing the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) into law. FADA would allow the government to do business with contractors who discriminate for religious reasons. Currently, 26 million Americans are employed by federal contractors and if FADA is passed, they could be fired for being LGBT, a religious minority, a nontheist, or even a single mother.

Send taxpayer money to religious schools. Under the guise promoting school choice, the religious right has fought hard to get taxpayer money to pay for religious education through voucher programs. School vouchers are a centerpiece of Trump's education plan and a bill already in the House (H.R. 6119) would make this a reality.

Appoint anti-choice justices to the Supreme Court. Trump has pledged to appoint not only a Supreme Court Justice but also federal judges who will "automatically" overturn Roe v. Wade.

The religious right threw all its political muscle behind Donald Trump's candidacy and there is no reason to think that, as President of the United States, he will not do everything in his power to make these terrifying proposals a reality. It was a good plan on their part but there's one thing they didn't count on: the tens of millions of secular Americans who stand in their way.

I know you might be tired of hearing about Trump's victory but politics doesn't begin and end on Election Day. You made your voice heard on November 8 but you can never stop standing up for what's right. In the coming months, the theocrats on Capitol Hill are going to throw everything they have at us. I'm ready to fight. I'm ready to protect the separation of church and state. I'm ready to defend science-based policy. And you can bet I'm ready to remind all of them about the one-quarter of Americans who are nonreligious and won't let them impose their agenda without a fight.

With less importance placed on religion in this presidential election, I'm hoping future candidates will be judged on their political positions and their character, rather than on their professed religious beliefs.